INFO: Locating Program Files on Localized Versions of Windows

Summary

In many cases, applications cannot find the path of the Program Files directory in international versions of Windows because the path is not C:\Program Files. For example, on German Windows 95, it is called Programme. The problem occurs when developers hard code the location of the Program Files directory. Instead, developers should refer to the system registry to identify the location of the Program Files directory.

More Information

You can find a glossary of localized names for each country on the Microsoft Developer's Network (MSDN), "Development Platform-INTL," disc 1. On the disc, there is a folder for each country's glossaries. For example, in the German folder, there are several Microsoft Excel files (.xls). One of them is for Window 95. In German Windows 95, Program Files is "Programme" as specified in the file.

However, to ensure that your application can run on any platform, it can check the registry value for the location of a directory. This approach eliminates the need to hard code the directory path. Refer to the value for the ProgramFilesDir key at [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion] to find the localized name of the Program Files directory.